After some trial a error (and a few more surprise wash downs in the lake) the engines managed to light the fire and skewer the fishes they caught. While the others remained by the fire to dry of their clothes and warm themselves up, Skarloey made his way back to the cabin.
He knocked on the door and waited for one of them to answer, but when he didn't hear anyone step up he opened the door slightly. But then he tried to keep from himself from fawning. Shale was still sleeping, head in Edwards lap and curling in on herself. While Edward had slouched over, hand tangled in her bright red hair.
He smile at how relaxed they both were. Shale didn't appear as tense and was far more relaxed. As for Edward, it was nice to see his oldest friend calmer than he'd seen him since he'd found him.
Skarloey stepped up, trying to keep his steps quiet. But he stepped on a loose board and it made a creak that echoed around the cabin. Shales eyes suddenly snapped open, hand flying to the hilt on her knife. But Edwards face was hovering above her and she ended up smashing the back of her head into him.
Shale cursed and grabbed the back of her head, then turning up to apologize to Edward. Who - surprisingly, seemed more shocked than in pain. Even as a black liquid started dripping out from his nose, he didn't seem concerned.
"Dam, sorry Eddie. I just, I'm sorry I didn't meant to - argh!" She pulled at her hair and dug the rip of her knife into the wooden board.
"No, please. I'm the one to blame. I should've waited for you to wake up, I'm so sorry." Skarloey ran up to their side, watching both of them for any kind of marks. He started to panic when he saw the drops of black staining Edwards shirt.
Shale grit her teeth. She went to rub the back of her head, but felt something drip onto her fingers. "No, I was the one being stupid and overreacting. Damit. Uhh, pinch your nose and tip your head back. I'll find something to clean up - whatever it is."
Seeing her bandana on the floor, she picked it up and folded it into a small square and pressed it against his nose. Skarloey was siting by his side and noticed how she was using her bandana as a handkerchief.
"Shale, please, we'll use something else. You don't need to - "
"Scar, it's just fabric and we're literally right next to a lake. I can clean it up later." She snapped back. She turned back to Edward, who's head had started to clear from the sudden awakening. "Here, can you hold this?"
He nodded slightly and when Shale moved her fingers away, Edward pressed the fabric against his nose to block out the flow. She stared at her fingertips and the slick black liquid start to drip down. A part of her was shocked to see that the engines did bleed, even if it wasn't blood - probably some kind of oil then.
She wiped it against her pants and looked back to Edward again. "Keep that there until the oil stops flowing." She sighed into her hand, covering her face before pushing her hair back. "Dam, this was probably the last thing you guys needed."
Skarloey started to fiddle with his fingers, a habit that Shale began noticing more often. "I'm still sorry for interrupting both of you. I should've been more careful."
"Skarloey, this isn't your fault. If you wanna blame anyone, blame me. It's just, well, I think there's a name for it. But for now, let's just call it a learned reaction. I'm just not used to this." She gestured to herself, the other engines and her surroundings.
"Used to what?"
Shale tipped her head back and closed her eyes, chuckling to herself quietly. "Used to not worrying about falling asleep and praying someone doesn't try to-" she cut herself of, not wanting to explain some of the horrific things that happened to other street kids. "Try to do something bad to you while you sleep."
"Oh, then I should be more careful next time. Again, I'm so sorry, to both of you." He apologized again.
"Skarloey," Edward spoke up, both of them turns to listen. "Shale, it's okay. Neither of you wanted to hurt me, and besides, this isn't a very large wound - I'll be alright."
"But Edward,"
"Skarloey, please. I will be fine." He stepped up and laid his hand on his shoulder. "Anyways, you wanted to show us something?"
"Oh, alright. But are you sure you'll be alright?" Skarloey asked, still feeling guilt.
"Well, I'm pretty sure you'll be fine. Though I gotta ask, doesn't that hurt?" She pointed to Edwards still leaking nose.
"Uhh, no. But we're engines, we don't leak oil. Shouldn't we be leaking water?" Edward asked.
"Beats me, I don't even know how your supposed to be alive in general."
Skarloey and Edward shared a uncomfortable look. The eldest engine turned back. "We - we've never really know ourselves either. I don't recall much after - after waking up. But I remember hearing someone talk about how they made us as engines. Something about a mechanical heart, organic shells. Though I doubt that this helps anything at the moment."
Shale saw how Edwards posture had changed; arms tightened around his torso, head ducked. She moved over to gently pat
"Yea, but I think it'd be good to go over everything we know with the others. Lay down some ground rules so we know what your limits are." Shale
"Alright." Skarloey followed both of them outside, leading them to the fire pit. The rest of the engines were sitting around the fire on several logs, some even had still dripping clothes layered ontop.
The engines had the fish they caught skewered on some some branches and would take turns passing it around the fire. They chatted between each other, Shale suspected the subject was something from there past.
"Heya" She waved ahead. "I'm awake."
She expected some polite comments, maybe a smile or two. But she didn't predict Peter Sam running up to give her a hug that left her feet kicking in the air. The gestured left her shocked and the force on her bruises made her grit her teeth to keep herself from yelling.
"Pete, put the human down. Your crushing her." Duncan pulled his arms of her. "You alright?"
Shale was breathing hard, but managed to choke out a quick 'yea,thanks' before standing back up again. Edward took a seat alongside Peter and Duncan, leaving her and Skarloey standing.
"Sorry, but I'm happy to see your alright!" Peter exclaimed. He picked up on of the skewered fishes. "Here, you really need the fuel."
Falcon took notice of the black stains on Edwards clothes. "Dam, what happened in there?"
Skarloey took a seat. "I promise I'll explain, but give Shale a moment to eat. We need her input."
Shale reached for the branch, but pulled back. "Wait, have you guys gotten something to eat yet?"
"No, but our pipes have started feeling somewhat dry." Renneas rubbed at his throat. " I think we're low on water, but I don't think we can drink the water in the lake."
"Besides, you need it now. We can always catch more later." Skarloey stated.
"'Kay." She reached for on of the fishes and bit into one the middle. It was still hot from the fire and it burnt part of her lip, but she was starving and continued to rip pieces of the branch. Pausing to wipe some of the juices of her face or to pull a thin bone out.
Skarloey was happy to see her finally eat again. He turned back to address some of the engines. "So, we've managed to find a good shelter. But we've also discovered some interesting things about our, condition."
Shale had finished her fish and threw the branch into the fire. "Yea, from what we've seen, you guys have the strengths equal to that of your engine-selves, you can't feel pain and you apparently bleed some kind of black, oil like substance."
Skarloey nodded. "Also, even though we don't need to eat as much as humans we still need to gather more supplies. So we might need to visit the town again."
"Also, you'll need to to be more careful in public since the police are definitely gonna be looking for you. They'll be looking for you as a group, so we'll need to split up each time."
"And I assume you'll be in each of them?" Falcon asked.
"Yea, I will. Sorry 'bout that, but you guys don't know a lot about how humans operate or what kind of supplies we'll need. Not to mention I've got practice with running from the police." Shale explained.
Duncan looked amused at this. "What were they tryin' to chase ya down for?"
She just shrugged. "Ha, honestly I don't even remember half the time. Probably tryin' to bright me back into foster care or somethin."
"So what do we need to find?" Rusty asked.
"Water, mainly." Shale started scratching pictures in the dirt. "Picks taught me this nifty rule of three; three hours without shelter, three days without water and three weeks without food."
"Oh, well, that's certainly provocative."Skarloey started to fidget again.
"The water's gonna be either the easiest or hardest thing to get. We might be able to lift some water bottles, but I don't want to rely on just stealing for the long term." She had to think for a moment before getting another idea. "Maybe we could check out the library for survival books."
"So, do we just go along with this plan? Don't we get a say?" Duncan asked.
"Well, unless you guys have some more input. They yea, this'll be the plan."
"Well, she does make a good point." Skarloey pointed out.
"Oh yea, and I just remembered something else. Do any of you guys have your code names?"
"Ain't that a mute point? Doesn't matter what we call ourselves, we'll still be sticking out like rusty piston." Duncan pointed out.
"Oh yea." Shale held her chin in her hand thoughtfully. "Good point Duncan, but until we find a way to hide your skin you'll have to be a lot more careful."
"Alright, but what are we gonna do after all that?" Peter wondered
"Huh, whatdya mean Pete?" Shale asked
"Well, what are we going to do once we find everything? What next?"
"What about the other living machines?" Rusty interrupted "The experiments, can't we do anything about that?"
Shale had hoped they wouldn't bring that up. "I, I don't know. I'm not even sure what to. We survive, we try to stay hidden and stay safe."
"Really? That's all you do?" Falcon said
"I'm sorry, but I really don't know. I know you guys want to help, but how are we supposed to help others if we can't even help ourselves."
The other engines glanced around, they didn't like where Shale was taking this, but they also didn't have a better plan.
"Alright" Skarloey spoke up. "But afterwards, could we at least attempt to try to find another living machine? I speak for all of us when I say that what happened to our friends is the worse fate an engine could face."
Her head hung low and she sighed audibly. "Fine, sure. I'll just help where I can."
Her head tilted back up towards the sky. The horizon coloured bright orange, to a soft red then a deep violet. Shale couldn't help but be reminded of her bruises, which - while fading, still stung whenever she moved. "Guess we should be sleeping now. You guys go ahead, I'll put out the fire."
She moved to the lake and cured some water, throwing it over the fire. She was surprised to see that the engines still left one of the fishes propped against the logs. She pulled out the slightly charred fish in one hand and went to gather some of their damp clothing.
But Edward was already there, arms held out like a rack and the clothes draped over. He stared back at her, pure confusion written over his face. "What? It wouldn't be fair if you had to carry all of this yourself. Your still damaged."
"Heh, thanks Eddie. " Shale walked back to the wooden cabin, she noticed how some of the piles of leaves were missing.
When they stepped inside, Shale smiled to see that the engines had made a small patch of leaves across the floor. Some of them were sitting on top of the bench which was also covered in leaves but they jumped of when they notice Shale walk in.
"Oh, you didn't eat the other fish?" asked Skarloey, surprised. "I though you'd need more fuel than that."
"So do you guys, and I'm pretty sure one fish ain't gonna cut it between the seven of you" Shales held out the stick with the fish.
"No, you need it more than we do. I really do feel more empty on water than fuel." Renneas insisted.
"It's either that, or you let it go to waste." Falcon smirked.
Shale didn't like his expression, but didn't turn up her nose to the food. She sat down on the bench and pulled out her knife and carved out some pieces, she tossed some to Edward and the other engines. Who just barely managed to catch them.
"Well, then I guess we'll have to share. I'll dump this outside, no need to draw in any animals ." Shale bit into her piece and tossed the branch outside.
Once she stepped inside, she couldn't help but laugh at how the engines were struggling to squeeze themselves all onto the small patch on the floor. Though they decided to leave the bench open for some reason. She leaned over them as they bickered, insisting that one of them was shoving to hard or that they had a twig caught in their foot. It was pretty funny to watch a bunch of engines at least 80 years older than her bicker like children.
"Guys, if there isn't enough room then one of you can take the bench. I'll take another one." She gestured to the other benches against the walls.
"But you need the best spot since your still damaged." Peter insisted.
"And I think there's a human rule that says boys and girls can't sleep in the same bed." Renneas pointed out.
"Why not? Man, human rules are stupid." Falcon mumbled
"I think they only sleep together if they really like each other though." Duncan mumbled. "Or somethin' like that, 'least that's what my driver said.'"
Shale just groaned and cut in before the conversation got awkward. "Okay, I'll take the bench for tonight. We'll just get some more branches tomorrow."
She curled onto her makeshift bed and Edward attempted to make squeeze himself along the rest of the engines. She shifted her position, one hand behind her head and the other laid across her stomach where the shirt didn't cover. The sky had darkened to a deep cooler and navy now. The last light of the sun poured through one of the windows above her.
She sighed while gingerly rubbing her bruises. 'Well, I guess I'm stuck with them for now.' Shale brushed her fingers against the faint scar across her forehead, frowning at the memories it brought.
'At least this time I know they won't screw me over. Won't they?' Shale knew the engines were genuine, bordering
on naive trust. But the thought that they'd end of making a decision that ended up with consequences for the rest of them lingered. It was always a possibility, but she didn't want to have to keep them on a leash tomorrow.
At least she wouldn't have to deal with that today.
